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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Teens
- Theme: Mystery
- Subject: Crime
- Published: 04/03/2013
Saving Kabo Mayo
M, from Pretoria, South Africa.jpg)
"SAVING KABO MAYO"
A SHORT STORY
BY
SABELO MGIDI
Saving Kabo Mayo was written and authored by Sabelo Mgidi, inspired from multitudes of real life events that were culminated into his own version of story telling. The events that transpired are fictional based although they were constructed from a third person view of real life incidents.
The short story is the literature work that is self published by the South African Author Sabelo Mgidi, an independent novelist, writer, student and youth politician. "Saving Kabo Mayo" will be released in book form as part of a series of short stories by Sabelo Mgidi.
Rights Reserved
2013 copyright
Part 1
The Basement
The rope used to tie her hands was beginning to cause her wrists to itch, her back started aching from sitting in the same awkward posture for hours and hours on end. The tears from her eyes have dried thoroughly on her face leaving faint white ashy marks running from her eyes to her brown cheeks, she had been crying frantically. She is sniffing and gasping for air, kabo is filled with fear and adrenaline, her top and bottom molars clash together almost grinding each other consistently as the rest of her adolescent body trembles. Kabo Mayo had been kidnapped for almost a complete 24 hours now, and she starts to wonder if someone will ever find and rescue her. It was very dark in the room she was kept in. she could smell the paint and cement odor coming from the cool floor and walls. She used her legs to navigate her vision to feel the surface of her unknown environment, and in search of some kind of doorway or window that she could use to scream for rescuing but, to no avail, she cannot locate either. She starts fearing the possibility that she could be in a room with no doors and windows and that she would never see another day of sunlight again. Kabo had been attacked and raped multiple times before being struck on the head with a very hard and lethal metal object resulting in a fractured skull, that immediatlely causing her to pass out. The suspect then took her unconscious body to a location unknown to her, she had been tied with thick jumping rope and her head had been covered with a black cloth like material. Blood dripping from her forehead causes her to sway in and out of dizziness, she struggles to breath through the material, she then realizes that panicking would only make the shortness of oxygen worse.
She counts from one to ten slowly, breathing deeply in and out. This was a relaxation technique her Life orientation teacher and principle Mr Gary Oliver had taught her class one morning when STRESS and YOGA was the topic of discussion. She used the technique calming herself down to avoid suffocation.
Before the attack occurred Kabo had been walking back home from school with two of her friends and class mates May Witherspoon and Lerato Basiko when they had all been offered a lift to be taken home. She was only a 17 years old student at Stanford Hill High School in Durban Kwazulu-Natal.
The sudden sounds of rats moving in the room raised her fears even more, she had vividly imagined that the rodents would make a meal out of her if she is not to make a plan. Adrenaline jolted into her blood stream creating enough motivation to keep her awake and focused on untying herself opposed to the hunger pains her stomach had undergone. With her memory fractured, she could not recall when last she ate, for Kabo it had felt like two weeks flew past her the last time she put something down her dry throat. After a long fight with the rope tied around her wrists she finally succeeds, her hands are freed.
She had once been part of the girl scouts at her school, and remembered how the scouts leader taught her and many other girls how to tie and untie a stubborn knot. As she lifts the black cloth that had covered her head leaving her temporarily blind, a lighter shade of darkness took shape to her vision. Although still unable to see she feels a sense of hope come over her for the first time in the longest twenty four hours of her life.
Her legs tied to a steel pole that was hammered into the hard concrete floor. After untying herself completely she squints her eyes to make out minute details of the room. she then notices the blood on her school dress that was dripping from her head, right above the left eyebrow.
Kabo lifts her arm and gently touches the wound: "Ouch, oh my God I'm bleeding to death." She says to herself as tears fall down her face.
The wound was a gash like cut, very deep. She starts worrying about getting an infection from all the dust and bacteria that filled the room. The open gash had swelled up causing blood to trickle down at a faster pace. Kabo was still traumatized and confused. she could recall being raped and dozing in and out of consciousness, her worries of being infected with HIV were her biggest concern. Rape victims usually have a 72 hour window to remove the virus before it becomes of them.
Kabo grew up an ordinary child from an average suburban home in Balito, she never had many friends, always kept a small social circle. She did not have enemies that she knew about, thoughts raced through her mind why someone would want to do this to her.
With no memory of the incident she only recalls leaving home to go to school with her father this morning. Anything further she has no connection of. She starts assuming the loss of her memory might have been caused from the blow to her fractured skull.
She wipes her bleeding nose with her school jersey and stands up from the floor. With distorted vision she slowly seeks an exit point or any items that could save her life. The room had polished concrete all the way around from the floor to the ceiling, the room was annoyingly humid and filled with dust. Four buckets of used paint and varnish had been placed by the wall near a wooden cupboard that was on the verge of collapsing and with specks of wood sprouting out its base, Kabo knew that touching the old cupboard without caution would give her a forrest of splinters.
She opens it slowly all she finds in it are a bunch of unreadable sheets of paper. As she continues to search luck is on her side. She finds an old rusted screw driver underneath the paper piles. She grabs it out from the spider webs it had been laying in, for only God knows how long. She picks it up with the tips of her thumb and index finger, she did so to avoid the rat feces that were dropped on the orange handle, and wipes off the rat droppings with a sheet of paper. She keeps moving north of the dark room knocking away at the wall from every angle, she then notices the hollow sound coming from a particular section of the wall. She thought to herself "Could this be a door?" She then stabs the hollow section with the orange screw driver and starts peeling away. She feels that there might be a light at the end of the tunnel for her.
Back in Balito her parents Hendrick and Mpumi Mayo had contacted the Durban Police Services to report their daughters disappearance. Her father naturally couldn't help but to assume the worst of their daughter, he assumed she was either kidnapped or someone murdered his child. Mpumi Mayo tried not to think the worst. She called all the people her daughter knew to find out if they had seen her. Hoping that their child had just pulled a typical teenaged rebellion act had just died. A few policemen and detectives were at the Mayo residents to take down statements and to do some police work. Detective Ngobeni who had been in charge of the investigation and search calmed Kabo's parents down.
"Do not worry, we will find your daughter and bring her home safely. It's probably nothing. We get these type of situations on the regular, it's really common, and usually the child was at a friend or a boyfriend's house that their parents did not know about."
Blatently lying through he's teeth it's the detetctives job to calm down the family of the victims an un spoken for policemen, so the Mayo's weren't any different. The truth was that after a person has been reported missing for over the twenty-four hour mark in South Africa, there was an 80% chance that the victim was either dead or surely reaching dying point.
Thirty minutes after stabbing through the cardboard like wall, Kabo sees a tint of light coming from the deepest hole where she had dug. Her hands as white as snow were covered in clay dust that spilled onto her as she continued to tunnel her way out. Finally the hole she had dug was big enough for her to fit her tiny frail body.
Speaking to herself in her traumatized mind she says: "Where am I?, I don't want to die, I don't want to die, please God protect me."
Part 2
A Cry For Help
The secret pathway had been discovered. She sets her bare feet onto the other side as the shade of darkness starts to fade away, she realizes she is being kept captive in an empty basement of some sort. Holding the screw driver firmly in her right small palm she keeps it in a self defense posture in case the rapist kidnapper decides to sexually attack her or inflict more pain on her that she already experienced. She discovers the fleets of stairs leading upwards on the left side of the basement, she tip toes her way to the wall near the staircase. Slowly leaning her head just enough for her left eye to see if anybody was on the staircase. Although filled with fear she peeps and does not see anybody. Kabo walks up the stairs and finds that there is a very small 100cm by 100cm square shaped entrance and exit door. "HELP! HELP! SOMEBODY PLEASE GET ME OUT OF HERE!" She yelled. Her screams and cries went unheard for another hour without any response. Without a single indication that other people were around. She trembled to the idea that she would die a sad and lonely death and nobody including herself would ever know what had happened to her and why.
Tears fall from her eyes again, she places her head face down onto her lap, she weeps to the point that it drained all of the little energy she had left, leading to her falling asleep balled up on the staircase of the basement.
Multiple sounds of thumping wake her up from her sleep, her head quickly rises in alertness from her drool filled skirt. She wonders what the sound could be, she wonders many things. Her grief slowly starts turning into a firing rage, she feels so helpless not knowing the simple things like what time of the day it was.
The furious Kabo screams "You coward, You coward, I hate you. I wish you could burn in hell for this. My parents will find me. Come down here, you pathetic excuse of a man"
Her ordeal caused here to experience severe post traumatic stress. Her emotions resembled a roller coaster ride. After screaming aggressively hours would go by until she would feel defeated again. She would cry "Please, please help me, I'm sorry, please let me go. I won't say anything to anyone, I won't go to the police I promise, I don't even have to see you're face, just let me go home please. I don't want to die here".
Part 3
ONE BIG BLUR
36 hours from the time of the kidnapping pass and Kabo starts losing pieces of her sanity, her body starts eating itself away due to dehydration. Her brain is foggy and she begins to mumble words that either do not exist or make sense. Her mind starts projecting illusions of her memory and distorted thoughts on her where abouts. She hears the noise of a door slamming which woke her up but at that point in time the delirious 17 year old girl has no clue if the noise is real or if she is dreaming
She sees the shadow of a man standing in front of her wearing what seemed to be a white formal shirt as she lay on the cold basement floor. She tries to fix her vision but cannot see clearly as she struggles to keep her eyes open, everything appeared blurry. She sticks out her hand suggesting that she should be lifted up from the ground. She says to the man in her cranky voice:
"Dad, Dad is that you?, thank you dad. Thank you."
Two weeks after Kabo Mayo's ordeal she finally starts to open her eyes, she sees her mother holding her numb hand beside the hospital bed. She hears her father's voice who is standing on the left side of her shoulder.
"My girl, you are okay, we were so worried about you." Her father says.
Kabo tries to look at him but her neck was braced and even when she did attempt to force herself to stare at him, it hurt like hell. She kept still.
"Don't move my darling get some rest. Everything will be fine, you are safe now." Says her mother in a gentle voice.
A month after she had been in an unpredictable coma, the doctors were pleased that she had finally woken up. They hadn't known for sure if she was to make it or not. Kabo had her life back. The first six weeks back at home left her waking up everyday in the middle of the night sweating and screaming as a result of her experience. She was sent to a psychiatrist to help deal with her trauma and she was expected to reach full recovery very soon.
On the enforcement side of her rape and kidnapping, the DPS Durban Police Services put an end to the dead end investigation. Even though interviews and statement from Kabo were taken no leads could pin the suspect to the rape and abduction. Her memory held the key to solving the crime. The day her parents retrieved back their daughter, her body had been found on the front porch of her parents home unconscious in her dusty uniform with dried blood on most parts of her forehead. Police suspect that the offender felt guilty and remorseful for what he had done to Kabo. He must have known her pretty well for him to know where she had stayed. Police then continued interviewing and chasing leads in belief that they would find the bastards and lock him up for good. But that is not always the case.
Part 4
A Fractured Memory
Detective Ngobeni told Hendrick Mayo "The day Kabo's memory returns will be the day we
catch that son of a bitch. Only she will lead us to finding this guy. I just feel bad that we did not catch him, next time someone else's daughter won't be as lucky as Kabo was to see another day".
Kabo moved on with life in a positive light. Her scar had started fading away, she resumed enjoying the things she used to again, her smile filled her parents hearts with the joy they once had.
Three months after the gruesome incident Kabo returned back to her old high School Stanford. Happy to be back at school and to see her friends May and Lerato again who were home all along the day of her kidnapping.
They had informed police to fill in the missing information that Kabo herself could not recall. In a police statement the girls said; They had planned to walk home from school when Mr Gary Oliver the school principle had seen them on the sidewalk a mile away from the School premises. He told the girls it was not the brightest idea to walk the streets so late in the day, saying that it is not safe. The girls confirm witnessing Kabo Mayo being dropped off first by Mr Oliver as she lives closest to school amongst the three of them. Mrs Oliver a grade 8 science teacher at Stanford High School had also been in the car to testify the matter. She stated that after dropping the lot home they headed for dinner at the DROS before heading back to their home. A concerned Mr Oliver was angered from the incident. He then upgraded the security by installing new surveillance cameras and a security staff of 6 members. in and outside the school premises.
Part 5
Saved by Kabo Mayo
Police questioned other pupils who might of had a grudge against Kabo but found no substantial leads. Other parents and families who live in the Balito community were taken for questioning along with Kabo's family members. The question that kept her, Kabo's parents, and the police till to this day is: What happened to Kabo the moment she had arrived home? Only her memory could say.
The day Kabo would spend her last day as a high school student brought here immense joy. Her eyes shone with happiness, her body jumped in excitement. Kabo and her friends were graduating from Matric and looking forward to the next phase in their lives. Her devotion towards academic excellence proved worthwhile, she was informed recently that her application for a bursary to study medicine at the University of California in the United States of America was succesful. Her parents were in awe that their baby girl had survived and excelled through difficult times.
It had been exactly a year and six months since the kidnapping, her nightmares and thoughts about the incident slowly started to fade away and she was the Kabo Mayo Durban knew her to be.
Her classmates toasting and making speeches about the good and bad times they have shared together. They all round up to each teacher's classroom to say their official goodbyes with their parents. Kabo takes the stand and tells the entire class about how Mr Oliver's Yoga technique saved her life once upon a time. Her friends and teachers applauded her as the speech came to a close. The day of graduation had come to an end as people started exiting the school grounds. Mr Oliver had become a close friend and business associate to Kabo's father after her kidnapping, Hendrick's NGO company had even awarded Oliver for his dedication on fighting crime in the community after investing thousands of Rand on protecting the children of Stanford high School.
"Ready to leave these premises and take on the world?" Asks Kabo's mother jokingly
"Yes mother I am let me just grab my bag."
Her dad who was happily waiting by the car found that he's back number plate on his Toyota camery had started coming off the plate clip. In search for something to tighten it with he hears Kabo with her mother who were being escorted by Mr Oliver.
"Dad what is wrong with the car?" Asks Kabo
Her Father smiled at her and said
"Its nothing to worry about my angel, just trying to fit this plate back in and its not going in but I'll have a look at it when we arrive home."
Mr Oliver offers he's kind help and says
"Do not worry Hendrick a friend always has you're back, use this it will hold the plate in nicely."
Mr Oliver kindly tells Hendrick to give him a second to get it from his classroom around the corner of the closest building. Hendrick responds with a cheerful and appriciative tone. "Why thank you Gary you didn't really have to go through all the trouble."
"Ag its no problem at all, old friend."
Eight minutes go by and Mr Oliver has not returned to the car, Hendrick becomes slightly impatient. "Why is he taking so long? Its almost 6pm and everybody else has left. Kabo my dear run to his office and tell him its not a problem I'll have a quick look at it at home."
"Okay dad" Kabo joyfully replies.
She jogs down the parking lot and turns at the corner of the building where Mr Oliver's classroom was situated. She knocks on his open door. "Sir? Mr Oliver?"
He responds anxiously "Yes my angel I've found what I'd been looking for, no worries my child."
She starts feeling slightly cold almost nautius. Confused to why her body all of a sudden felt woozy when her principle had shifted his tool box over a patch of four tiles that seemed odd shaped compared to the rest of the room, almost losing grip of the cement it had been glued too. Ignoring her faint dizziness she smiles at her principle and thanks him for the wonderful environment he created for all the learners of Stanford hill High.
He places he's arm around her shoulder and tells her that her father is waiting. An impatient Hendrick opens the car door "That took a while"
"I had to find the tool closest to my heart you know, not just any kind." Says Oliver with a gloating tone.
As he reaches for his back pocket and pulls out the screw driver, Kabo's heart stopped beating, her breath taken away. Grey Oliver the school principle handed Hendrick Mayo a screw driver with an orange handle that had the letters KM (Kabo Mayo) engraved on it. Initials that she marked on the handel in order for her to identify it one day. Her body freezes and without being able to say something she faints on the spot.
Once again her eyes open slowly, she feels dizzy, she looks to her right and see's her mother laying down in a pool of what looked like thick red water next to her father . Her eyes wide opened yet her vision still blurred, she tries sitting up but she realizes her hands are cuffed, she looks above her all she sees are polished concrete walls her memory has returned. Kabo Mayo was back in the basement. Mr Oliver's basement which was situated right underneath he's life orientation class.
Conclusion:
Mr Grey Oliver went on raping and kidnapping school going girls for the next 30 years before he was ever caught and put to death by the lethal injection. In his malicious life he managed to rape and kidnap over 52 children. On the day of graduation for the class of 1972 of Stanford hill High School Kabo Mayo and her parents Hendrick and Mpumi Mayo did not return home that day. She did not live her dreams of going to California and becoming a doctor to help those in need. She was brutally murdered and her parents along with her in the basement where left to starve to death before joining their daughter in peace. Kabo Mayo may have not lived a full and complete life, but what she did do was help the DPS to find the criminal Mr Oliver and other girl victims who were never found, when after 30 years her psychiatrist at the time found what she believe to be as Kabo's private notes of her regaining portions of her memory and a note about the screw driver which lead to the DPS reopening the case. She saved many girls just like her from the pain and suffering she had undergone. In a way Kabo Mayo will always live in our hearts and minds as the Doctor who saved hundreds of girls in Durban from falling prey to Oliver the serial rapist and killer.
The End.
Authored by: Sabelo Mgidi
Saving Kabo Mayo(sabelo)
"SAVING KABO MAYO"
A SHORT STORY
BY
SABELO MGIDI
Saving Kabo Mayo was written and authored by Sabelo Mgidi, inspired from multitudes of real life events that were culminated into his own version of story telling. The events that transpired are fictional based although they were constructed from a third person view of real life incidents.
The short story is the literature work that is self published by the South African Author Sabelo Mgidi, an independent novelist, writer, student and youth politician. "Saving Kabo Mayo" will be released in book form as part of a series of short stories by Sabelo Mgidi.
Rights Reserved
2013 copyright
Part 1
The Basement
The rope used to tie her hands was beginning to cause her wrists to itch, her back started aching from sitting in the same awkward posture for hours and hours on end. The tears from her eyes have dried thoroughly on her face leaving faint white ashy marks running from her eyes to her brown cheeks, she had been crying frantically. She is sniffing and gasping for air, kabo is filled with fear and adrenaline, her top and bottom molars clash together almost grinding each other consistently as the rest of her adolescent body trembles. Kabo Mayo had been kidnapped for almost a complete 24 hours now, and she starts to wonder if someone will ever find and rescue her. It was very dark in the room she was kept in. she could smell the paint and cement odor coming from the cool floor and walls. She used her legs to navigate her vision to feel the surface of her unknown environment, and in search of some kind of doorway or window that she could use to scream for rescuing but, to no avail, she cannot locate either. She starts fearing the possibility that she could be in a room with no doors and windows and that she would never see another day of sunlight again. Kabo had been attacked and raped multiple times before being struck on the head with a very hard and lethal metal object resulting in a fractured skull, that immediatlely causing her to pass out. The suspect then took her unconscious body to a location unknown to her, she had been tied with thick jumping rope and her head had been covered with a black cloth like material. Blood dripping from her forehead causes her to sway in and out of dizziness, she struggles to breath through the material, she then realizes that panicking would only make the shortness of oxygen worse.
She counts from one to ten slowly, breathing deeply in and out. This was a relaxation technique her Life orientation teacher and principle Mr Gary Oliver had taught her class one morning when STRESS and YOGA was the topic of discussion. She used the technique calming herself down to avoid suffocation.
Before the attack occurred Kabo had been walking back home from school with two of her friends and class mates May Witherspoon and Lerato Basiko when they had all been offered a lift to be taken home. She was only a 17 years old student at Stanford Hill High School in Durban Kwazulu-Natal.
The sudden sounds of rats moving in the room raised her fears even more, she had vividly imagined that the rodents would make a meal out of her if she is not to make a plan. Adrenaline jolted into her blood stream creating enough motivation to keep her awake and focused on untying herself opposed to the hunger pains her stomach had undergone. With her memory fractured, she could not recall when last she ate, for Kabo it had felt like two weeks flew past her the last time she put something down her dry throat. After a long fight with the rope tied around her wrists she finally succeeds, her hands are freed.
She had once been part of the girl scouts at her school, and remembered how the scouts leader taught her and many other girls how to tie and untie a stubborn knot. As she lifts the black cloth that had covered her head leaving her temporarily blind, a lighter shade of darkness took shape to her vision. Although still unable to see she feels a sense of hope come over her for the first time in the longest twenty four hours of her life.
Her legs tied to a steel pole that was hammered into the hard concrete floor. After untying herself completely she squints her eyes to make out minute details of the room. she then notices the blood on her school dress that was dripping from her head, right above the left eyebrow.
Kabo lifts her arm and gently touches the wound: "Ouch, oh my God I'm bleeding to death." She says to herself as tears fall down her face.
The wound was a gash like cut, very deep. She starts worrying about getting an infection from all the dust and bacteria that filled the room. The open gash had swelled up causing blood to trickle down at a faster pace. Kabo was still traumatized and confused. she could recall being raped and dozing in and out of consciousness, her worries of being infected with HIV were her biggest concern. Rape victims usually have a 72 hour window to remove the virus before it becomes of them.
Kabo grew up an ordinary child from an average suburban home in Balito, she never had many friends, always kept a small social circle. She did not have enemies that she knew about, thoughts raced through her mind why someone would want to do this to her.
With no memory of the incident she only recalls leaving home to go to school with her father this morning. Anything further she has no connection of. She starts assuming the loss of her memory might have been caused from the blow to her fractured skull.
She wipes her bleeding nose with her school jersey and stands up from the floor. With distorted vision she slowly seeks an exit point or any items that could save her life. The room had polished concrete all the way around from the floor to the ceiling, the room was annoyingly humid and filled with dust. Four buckets of used paint and varnish had been placed by the wall near a wooden cupboard that was on the verge of collapsing and with specks of wood sprouting out its base, Kabo knew that touching the old cupboard without caution would give her a forrest of splinters.
She opens it slowly all she finds in it are a bunch of unreadable sheets of paper. As she continues to search luck is on her side. She finds an old rusted screw driver underneath the paper piles. She grabs it out from the spider webs it had been laying in, for only God knows how long. She picks it up with the tips of her thumb and index finger, she did so to avoid the rat feces that were dropped on the orange handle, and wipes off the rat droppings with a sheet of paper. She keeps moving north of the dark room knocking away at the wall from every angle, she then notices the hollow sound coming from a particular section of the wall. She thought to herself "Could this be a door?" She then stabs the hollow section with the orange screw driver and starts peeling away. She feels that there might be a light at the end of the tunnel for her.
Back in Balito her parents Hendrick and Mpumi Mayo had contacted the Durban Police Services to report their daughters disappearance. Her father naturally couldn't help but to assume the worst of their daughter, he assumed she was either kidnapped or someone murdered his child. Mpumi Mayo tried not to think the worst. She called all the people her daughter knew to find out if they had seen her. Hoping that their child had just pulled a typical teenaged rebellion act had just died. A few policemen and detectives were at the Mayo residents to take down statements and to do some police work. Detective Ngobeni who had been in charge of the investigation and search calmed Kabo's parents down.
"Do not worry, we will find your daughter and bring her home safely. It's probably nothing. We get these type of situations on the regular, it's really common, and usually the child was at a friend or a boyfriend's house that their parents did not know about."
Blatently lying through he's teeth it's the detetctives job to calm down the family of the victims an un spoken for policemen, so the Mayo's weren't any different. The truth was that after a person has been reported missing for over the twenty-four hour mark in South Africa, there was an 80% chance that the victim was either dead or surely reaching dying point.
Thirty minutes after stabbing through the cardboard like wall, Kabo sees a tint of light coming from the deepest hole where she had dug. Her hands as white as snow were covered in clay dust that spilled onto her as she continued to tunnel her way out. Finally the hole she had dug was big enough for her to fit her tiny frail body.
Speaking to herself in her traumatized mind she says: "Where am I?, I don't want to die, I don't want to die, please God protect me."
Part 2
A Cry For Help
The secret pathway had been discovered. She sets her bare feet onto the other side as the shade of darkness starts to fade away, she realizes she is being kept captive in an empty basement of some sort. Holding the screw driver firmly in her right small palm she keeps it in a self defense posture in case the rapist kidnapper decides to sexually attack her or inflict more pain on her that she already experienced. She discovers the fleets of stairs leading upwards on the left side of the basement, she tip toes her way to the wall near the staircase. Slowly leaning her head just enough for her left eye to see if anybody was on the staircase. Although filled with fear she peeps and does not see anybody. Kabo walks up the stairs and finds that there is a very small 100cm by 100cm square shaped entrance and exit door. "HELP! HELP! SOMEBODY PLEASE GET ME OUT OF HERE!" She yelled. Her screams and cries went unheard for another hour without any response. Without a single indication that other people were around. She trembled to the idea that she would die a sad and lonely death and nobody including herself would ever know what had happened to her and why.
Tears fall from her eyes again, she places her head face down onto her lap, she weeps to the point that it drained all of the little energy she had left, leading to her falling asleep balled up on the staircase of the basement.
Multiple sounds of thumping wake her up from her sleep, her head quickly rises in alertness from her drool filled skirt. She wonders what the sound could be, she wonders many things. Her grief slowly starts turning into a firing rage, she feels so helpless not knowing the simple things like what time of the day it was.
The furious Kabo screams "You coward, You coward, I hate you. I wish you could burn in hell for this. My parents will find me. Come down here, you pathetic excuse of a man"
Her ordeal caused here to experience severe post traumatic stress. Her emotions resembled a roller coaster ride. After screaming aggressively hours would go by until she would feel defeated again. She would cry "Please, please help me, I'm sorry, please let me go. I won't say anything to anyone, I won't go to the police I promise, I don't even have to see you're face, just let me go home please. I don't want to die here".
Part 3
ONE BIG BLUR
36 hours from the time of the kidnapping pass and Kabo starts losing pieces of her sanity, her body starts eating itself away due to dehydration. Her brain is foggy and she begins to mumble words that either do not exist or make sense. Her mind starts projecting illusions of her memory and distorted thoughts on her where abouts. She hears the noise of a door slamming which woke her up but at that point in time the delirious 17 year old girl has no clue if the noise is real or if she is dreaming
She sees the shadow of a man standing in front of her wearing what seemed to be a white formal shirt as she lay on the cold basement floor. She tries to fix her vision but cannot see clearly as she struggles to keep her eyes open, everything appeared blurry. She sticks out her hand suggesting that she should be lifted up from the ground. She says to the man in her cranky voice:
"Dad, Dad is that you?, thank you dad. Thank you."
Two weeks after Kabo Mayo's ordeal she finally starts to open her eyes, she sees her mother holding her numb hand beside the hospital bed. She hears her father's voice who is standing on the left side of her shoulder.
"My girl, you are okay, we were so worried about you." Her father says.
Kabo tries to look at him but her neck was braced and even when she did attempt to force herself to stare at him, it hurt like hell. She kept still.
"Don't move my darling get some rest. Everything will be fine, you are safe now." Says her mother in a gentle voice.
A month after she had been in an unpredictable coma, the doctors were pleased that she had finally woken up. They hadn't known for sure if she was to make it or not. Kabo had her life back. The first six weeks back at home left her waking up everyday in the middle of the night sweating and screaming as a result of her experience. She was sent to a psychiatrist to help deal with her trauma and she was expected to reach full recovery very soon.
On the enforcement side of her rape and kidnapping, the DPS Durban Police Services put an end to the dead end investigation. Even though interviews and statement from Kabo were taken no leads could pin the suspect to the rape and abduction. Her memory held the key to solving the crime. The day her parents retrieved back their daughter, her body had been found on the front porch of her parents home unconscious in her dusty uniform with dried blood on most parts of her forehead. Police suspect that the offender felt guilty and remorseful for what he had done to Kabo. He must have known her pretty well for him to know where she had stayed. Police then continued interviewing and chasing leads in belief that they would find the bastards and lock him up for good. But that is not always the case.
Part 4
A Fractured Memory
Detective Ngobeni told Hendrick Mayo "The day Kabo's memory returns will be the day we
catch that son of a bitch. Only she will lead us to finding this guy. I just feel bad that we did not catch him, next time someone else's daughter won't be as lucky as Kabo was to see another day".
Kabo moved on with life in a positive light. Her scar had started fading away, she resumed enjoying the things she used to again, her smile filled her parents hearts with the joy they once had.
Three months after the gruesome incident Kabo returned back to her old high School Stanford. Happy to be back at school and to see her friends May and Lerato again who were home all along the day of her kidnapping.
They had informed police to fill in the missing information that Kabo herself could not recall. In a police statement the girls said; They had planned to walk home from school when Mr Gary Oliver the school principle had seen them on the sidewalk a mile away from the School premises. He told the girls it was not the brightest idea to walk the streets so late in the day, saying that it is not safe. The girls confirm witnessing Kabo Mayo being dropped off first by Mr Oliver as she lives closest to school amongst the three of them. Mrs Oliver a grade 8 science teacher at Stanford High School had also been in the car to testify the matter. She stated that after dropping the lot home they headed for dinner at the DROS before heading back to their home. A concerned Mr Oliver was angered from the incident. He then upgraded the security by installing new surveillance cameras and a security staff of 6 members. in and outside the school premises.
Part 5
Saved by Kabo Mayo
Police questioned other pupils who might of had a grudge against Kabo but found no substantial leads. Other parents and families who live in the Balito community were taken for questioning along with Kabo's family members. The question that kept her, Kabo's parents, and the police till to this day is: What happened to Kabo the moment she had arrived home? Only her memory could say.
The day Kabo would spend her last day as a high school student brought here immense joy. Her eyes shone with happiness, her body jumped in excitement. Kabo and her friends were graduating from Matric and looking forward to the next phase in their lives. Her devotion towards academic excellence proved worthwhile, she was informed recently that her application for a bursary to study medicine at the University of California in the United States of America was succesful. Her parents were in awe that their baby girl had survived and excelled through difficult times.
It had been exactly a year and six months since the kidnapping, her nightmares and thoughts about the incident slowly started to fade away and she was the Kabo Mayo Durban knew her to be.
Her classmates toasting and making speeches about the good and bad times they have shared together. They all round up to each teacher's classroom to say their official goodbyes with their parents. Kabo takes the stand and tells the entire class about how Mr Oliver's Yoga technique saved her life once upon a time. Her friends and teachers applauded her as the speech came to a close. The day of graduation had come to an end as people started exiting the school grounds. Mr Oliver had become a close friend and business associate to Kabo's father after her kidnapping, Hendrick's NGO company had even awarded Oliver for his dedication on fighting crime in the community after investing thousands of Rand on protecting the children of Stanford high School.
"Ready to leave these premises and take on the world?" Asks Kabo's mother jokingly
"Yes mother I am let me just grab my bag."
Her dad who was happily waiting by the car found that he's back number plate on his Toyota camery had started coming off the plate clip. In search for something to tighten it with he hears Kabo with her mother who were being escorted by Mr Oliver.
"Dad what is wrong with the car?" Asks Kabo
Her Father smiled at her and said
"Its nothing to worry about my angel, just trying to fit this plate back in and its not going in but I'll have a look at it when we arrive home."
Mr Oliver offers he's kind help and says
"Do not worry Hendrick a friend always has you're back, use this it will hold the plate in nicely."
Mr Oliver kindly tells Hendrick to give him a second to get it from his classroom around the corner of the closest building. Hendrick responds with a cheerful and appriciative tone. "Why thank you Gary you didn't really have to go through all the trouble."
"Ag its no problem at all, old friend."
Eight minutes go by and Mr Oliver has not returned to the car, Hendrick becomes slightly impatient. "Why is he taking so long? Its almost 6pm and everybody else has left. Kabo my dear run to his office and tell him its not a problem I'll have a quick look at it at home."
"Okay dad" Kabo joyfully replies.
She jogs down the parking lot and turns at the corner of the building where Mr Oliver's classroom was situated. She knocks on his open door. "Sir? Mr Oliver?"
He responds anxiously "Yes my angel I've found what I'd been looking for, no worries my child."
She starts feeling slightly cold almost nautius. Confused to why her body all of a sudden felt woozy when her principle had shifted his tool box over a patch of four tiles that seemed odd shaped compared to the rest of the room, almost losing grip of the cement it had been glued too. Ignoring her faint dizziness she smiles at her principle and thanks him for the wonderful environment he created for all the learners of Stanford hill High.
He places he's arm around her shoulder and tells her that her father is waiting. An impatient Hendrick opens the car door "That took a while"
"I had to find the tool closest to my heart you know, not just any kind." Says Oliver with a gloating tone.
As he reaches for his back pocket and pulls out the screw driver, Kabo's heart stopped beating, her breath taken away. Grey Oliver the school principle handed Hendrick Mayo a screw driver with an orange handle that had the letters KM (Kabo Mayo) engraved on it. Initials that she marked on the handel in order for her to identify it one day. Her body freezes and without being able to say something she faints on the spot.
Once again her eyes open slowly, she feels dizzy, she looks to her right and see's her mother laying down in a pool of what looked like thick red water next to her father . Her eyes wide opened yet her vision still blurred, she tries sitting up but she realizes her hands are cuffed, she looks above her all she sees are polished concrete walls her memory has returned. Kabo Mayo was back in the basement. Mr Oliver's basement which was situated right underneath he's life orientation class.
Conclusion:
Mr Grey Oliver went on raping and kidnapping school going girls for the next 30 years before he was ever caught and put to death by the lethal injection. In his malicious life he managed to rape and kidnap over 52 children. On the day of graduation for the class of 1972 of Stanford hill High School Kabo Mayo and her parents Hendrick and Mpumi Mayo did not return home that day. She did not live her dreams of going to California and becoming a doctor to help those in need. She was brutally murdered and her parents along with her in the basement where left to starve to death before joining their daughter in peace. Kabo Mayo may have not lived a full and complete life, but what she did do was help the DPS to find the criminal Mr Oliver and other girl victims who were never found, when after 30 years her psychiatrist at the time found what she believe to be as Kabo's private notes of her regaining portions of her memory and a note about the screw driver which lead to the DPS reopening the case. She saved many girls just like her from the pain and suffering she had undergone. In a way Kabo Mayo will always live in our hearts and minds as the Doctor who saved hundreds of girls in Durban from falling prey to Oliver the serial rapist and killer.
The End.
Authored by: Sabelo Mgidi
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